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Hurricane Center’s Knabb: Floridians not prepared enough

National Hurricane Center Director Rick Knabb joined other in pounding on the theme of complacency at Wednesday’s general session of the Florida Governor’s Hurricane Conference.

“We’re all set, right? No,” Knabb lamented.

“There’s a lot of folks that aren’t adequately prepared. there’s just no getting around that,” Knabb said.”We’ve got a lot of work to do to get people ready for the next hurricane. And note I don’t say ‘if the next hurricane comes.'”

Knabb recalled how doctors had told him and his wife about nine years ago they were having a girl, but then, close to delivery, said it instead was a boy.

“I remember painting blue on top of pink,” he said. “The chances of a hurricane hitting a particular person where they live, this year, are pretty small. But the (potential) consequences are very great if you don’t do something ahead of time.”

Knabb, director since 2012, again bemoaned the danger of seasonal forecasts, such as this year, of “below average” seasons.

He asked attendees if they’d be happy with a below-average forecast of only seven named storms, four hurricanes, and one “major” hurricane, of at least Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson Scale.

“Would that make us feel better? I hope not, because that one (major) was Andrew,” in 1992, Knabb said.

Knabb also showed results of a poll that shopwed 85 percent believed evacuatioon orders are related to wind, when it’s actually water. And he said many people have no clue if they’re in an evacuation zone, how they’d decide whether to leave, and where they’d go if they did leave.

Knabb also again described new storm surge tools to be instituted this year.

The center will post experimental graphics showing potential storm surge, on its web page. It will be updated every six hours, and will reflect changes in a storm’s track or strength. And as early as 2015, the hurricane center will start issuing a new breed of watches and warnings, for storm surge. Maps will show where surge could occur and how high above ground the water could reach in those areas.

Reporter Eliot Kleinberg, who’s covered hurricanes for the Palm Beach Post for more than a quarter century, will report Wednesday through Friday, May 14-16, from the Florida Governor’s National Hurricane Conference in Orlando. Watch for tweets, blog postings, and web and print stories.